The blog of the Instagram of a healthy work-in-progress.

Tag: Recipes

We’re starting to get some lasting snow and ice on the ground. That means it’s time to start cooking up what I like to call hibernation food—warm, hearty dishes to fend off the cold and build up a sturdy winter bod! (Any excuse to feast during this time of year right?)

This shepherd’s pie is a great starting point for comfort food and a generally swell vegetarian option. It can work with adding any spare vegetables you’ve got around in your fridge if you sautee them into the filling.

The real MVP here is the creamy warmth of the dijon mashed potatoes. The tang of the mustard cuts the earthy quality of the mushroom lentil filling with contrast and a buttery mouthfeel.

…I’m going to stop writing like Martha Stewart now and let you at this recipe.

1. Prepare the potatoes by quartering them and putting them in a large pot. Cover with water, salt generously. Bring to a rolling boil over medium heat and cook until fork tender. Drain the water and mash the potatoes vigorously. Stir in mustard and splash with milk, mixing to a thick, desired consistency. Add butter and salt to taste. Set aside.

2. In a large pan, sautée the garlic in the olive oil over medium heat until golden and fragrant. Add the onion and cook for a few minutes until slightly translucent. Add the mushrooms and cook until brown and slightly shrunken, stirring occasionally.

3. When the mushrooms are cooked, add the celery and carrots, stirring until slightly softened. Now it’s time to add the lentils! If using the canned variety, drain and rinse them before adding, stirring to ensure everything is evenly mixed.

4. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Now add the soy sauce and red wine to the lentil mixture, stirring until it has evaporated. Add your peas and stir through, fresh or frozen. Taste the mixture to check your seasonings.

5. Optional step: if you want a thicker consistency for your filling, whisk 1 tbsp. arrowroot flour or cornstarch into 1 c. vegetable stock. Pour into the pan, turning up the heat to simmer and activate. (If using arrowroot, whisk quickly!)

6. Pour the lentil mixture and spread evenly into a deep, square ovenproof dish— roughly 10 x 10. Cover the mixture with the dijon mash, spreading evenly. Bake in the oven until the potatoes are browned on top–about 20 minutes.

7. Remove from oven and let cool for about 10 minutes to let the ingredients “settle.” Serve and enjoy!

She’d wake me up and bribe me down to the kitchen with it. CAKE! FOR! BREAKFAST! I’d leave school sugar high and pumped that I’d ditched the oatmeal for once. (Thanks for being cool, mom!)

Even though she doesn’t wake me up on my birthday anymore, the craving for that a.m. cake fix is a time-honoured tradition that I cannot and WILL NOT ignore. (I’m an adult damnit!) This smoothie is my 27-year-old compromise. It combines the YUM of cake mix with healthful ingredients like a l’il protein powder, yogurt, and frozen strawberries, a throwback to all the birthday breakfasts that have come before, covered in summer fruit. (Happy Summer Solstice, y’all!) I know, I know, healthy schmealthy… But a smoothie made with ice cream is just a milkshake, and that’s a different blog post.

Side note: lots of recipes I saw said sprinkles were optional… That is false. Sprinkles are only optional if you hate happiness or have food allergies to dye.

2. Add a few extra tablespoons of milk at a time if the consistency needs tweaking to your liking.

3. Top with sprinkles and a dusting of extra cake mix and enjoy! Happy birthday! …Or Wednesday… Or whenever you want this. Mama isn’t here to judge.

*If you’re wondering what to do with extra cake mix, Buzzfeed has lots of suggestions! Alternatively, you can go to your local bulk food store and buy a specific amount just for this! Or make this a bunch more times.

Once, two years into my English degree, I almost dropped out of university to become a professional baker. The lightning bolt hit—carb-pe diem! I did end up graduating, and now, just bake in my spare time for fun. Still, it’s a tough hobby to keep up when you’re trying to lead a healthy lifestyle, even one with room for the occasional treat.

The ongoing mission is to find healthy bakes that actually taste good. Not dry bakes, not “pretty good for being healthier” bakes—food that is fun to make and produces tasty results that are good for you.

These muffins checked off the boxes—they’re dense, moist, chewy, and delicious! Plus, they have 4g of fibre a piece, and at only 260 calories, you can add a tablespoon of peanut butter, a coffee, and a piece of fresh fruit for a whole breakfast. Yaaaaaaaaas.

2. In a large bowl whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and flax meal. Set aside.

3. In a smaller bowl, stir together mashed bananas, milk, yogurt, maple syrup and vanilla. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix until just combined—it’s okay if there are little streaks of flour! Better a little bit of that than tough muffins!

4. Divide into prepared muffin pan, and place in preheated oven, lowering temperature to 350 degrees F. Bake for 18-20 minutes, rotating the pans at the half way point, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

5. Allow to cool in pan for five minutes before removing to wire rack.

A little late for Valentines day, but get your love on with some dates!

This recipe is chewy, sweet, creamy, peanut-buttery and filling. With your morning cup of coffee, tea, or water, it’s a healthy, but indulgent way to fuel up. At 500 cals it might be a little spendy, but it’s the first meal of the day—so make room, people! #WorthIt.

Confession: I love telling stories and I love cooking, but I never read the prose part of recipes posts on food blogs… So I’ll keep this short. This weekend, I started a new fitness Instagram (#fitstagram?) to keep me motivated. (Follow me at @rilesrunswild!) This morning I woke up, geared to cook lunches and dinners for the week, so I did. This afternoon, I went for a good Couch to 5K run. I’m feeling pretty good, and I’m hoping this momentum lasts!

3. Add water, tomato paste, cumin, and garlic powder to the saucepan. Whisk and bring to a simmer, letting it thicken as it heats. Stir in salt to your desired taste.

4. Sautee onions and garlic in a saucepan until fragrant. (Lazy tip: I emptied the sauce into a measuring cup and used the same saucepan.) Add black beans, a few spoonfuls of sauce and stir to combine, gently heating until warmed through.

5. Remove the squash from the oven and stir into black bean mixture. Reduce heat to 350 F. Warm up your tortillas in the oven for a minute to increase pliability.

6. Spoon enchilada sauce into the bottom of a baking dish (9×13 or 9×9, use whatever you’ve got). Now assemble the enchiladas. Spoon some squash and bean filling into each tortilla. Roll up as snugly as possible and place seam side down in the pan.

7. Complete with the rest of your tortillas, and snuggle them into the pan together.(You may have some filling leftover. Lucky you, it’s delicious by itself!) Add the rest of the enchilada sauce over top, smoothing it into cover the tortillas.

Directions:1. Prep the mash. Put cauliflower and potatoes into a pot of water and bring to a boil. Salt the water and boil the vegetables until fork tender. Drain and then mash, adding milk, salt and butter to desired consistency and taste. Set aside.

2. Add olive, garlic and onions to a large saucepan. Cook until fragrant. Add mushrooms and cook on medium heat until most fluids have been released and mushrooms are brown and cooked down.